Category: PS3

The PlayStation 3

PS3 + DivX = Announced

Today, Mr. Hell (Seriously, his last name is Hell), CEO of DivX announced that they are working with Sony to add DivX playing capability to the PlayStation 3. The proposed feature will be included in an update “in the near future”. This announcement also means that game developers will be able to use DivX videos in their games (DivX videos tend to have high quality [tends to be true] at relatively low filesizes [that has yet to be confirmed at all]).

For those who don’t know, DivX is often used for DVD like quality in videos, and rips of DVDs tend to be in the DivX encoded format.

PlayStation 3 Version 2.0

PS3 Updates iconSony announced that PS3 Firmware version 2.0 will be releasing soon. There are several new features and little additions to the PS3.

One of the new features is the ability to turn and turn off the PS3 wirelessly with the PSP using the Remote Play function. Besides the ability to simply turn on and off the machine using the PSP as a remote, you can also listen to music, look at photos and watch videos that are saved on the PS3 Hard Disk Drive, anywhere in the world. A global connection. Another new feature, which you think Sony wouldn’t alert you on, but now they will is like a Updates feed of the PS3. The icon on the top right of this article will be added, the icon, called the Information Board, will display news on games, PS Store updates, hardware, accessories and more (in other words, ads) in the upper right hand corner. Each item displayed will be able to be clicked on for more details.

Also, Sony has finally allowed customization of the XMB (Cross Media Bar [for those who are bad with acronyms or just really don’t care]). With version 2.0 you can change the color and brightness of the bar (oooooh la la), or you can go totally stylin’ with a custom theme (with more available on the Store in the future). Music and Photos can now be managed in personalized playlists.

Lastly, though not really important, Sony has added Trend Micro Web Security to the update. Why it’s needed, I don’t know but it is supposed to be free*.

*not really a free full version. Free means a no price trial version until the end of April, 2008. Some restrictions apply.

skate. delayed two days

EA’s upcoming skating game, aptly named “skate.”, looks to finally put up a good fight against Activision’s Tony Hawk series- and from the gameplay that’s been shown and the demo, they’ve done a pretty good job!
Anyway, the game was scheduled for release on September 12 (on the 360), but was pushed back until Friday, September 14 for…well, whatever reason. They didn’t give one.
skate. is scheduled for release on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 on September 14 and 24, respectively.

EA announces a new game to its Need for Speed franchise

Need For Speed: ProStreetEA announced their newest title in the Need for Speed series, ProStreet. ProStreet, which releases on October 31st, is supposed to be EA games’ interpretation of Street Racing Culture in the next 5 years (in otherwords, exactly the same as it is now). You start as you normally start in NFS games, a person who is a nobody who then enters street racing to become somebody. No new news here. According to the Executive Producer, Larry LaPierre: “This is a next-gen game, packed with the raw intensity and visceral aggression that defines street racing at the highest level.” Yeah, Need for Speed games have never really done it as well as the Burnout series, in my opinion.

Apparently for the “first time ever” you can design and build your car, a feature that has been in NFS since Underground. Not much of the story has been revealed but knowing EA it will probably have to do with you competing against some rival or something. And new in NFS: ProStreet is the Show Down mode, which sounds a lot like a race.

EA will probably not surprise me at all with ProStreet.

Portal Facts from interview with Jeep Barnett

Today, I got the most awesome opportunity to talk to Jeep Barnett, a programmer (one of the original 7 on the Narbucular Drop team) of Valve’s new game called Portal. The talk was mainly about the latest game Portal and about the Digipen game, Narbucular Drop. Please be warned, that thecakeisalie. And there might be a few cool things you might not know yet about Portal.

After introducing some of his work to me and a group of others, he went on to talk a bit about Portal and how it really works (which I won’t discuss how the game works from a code aspect [that would spoil everything, and no one likes spoilers]).

Continue reading Portal Facts from interview with Jeep Barnett